ABSTRACT
This chapter begins the changes brought by the Customs Union (CU) that will shape trade policy in the coming years. The role of the economic elites in the Europeanization of Turkish trade policy is especially important, as the European Union (EU) has been the primary market for Turkish exports and is the major foreign investor in Turkey. Europeanization of Turkey's trade policy, mainly under the framework of the CU, has been the principal explanatory variable for understanding the country's trade policy transformation in the last two decades. Turkey's foreign policy began to be shaped by economic considerations. However, the dependence of trade on foreign policy constituted a challenge for Turkey after the region entered into turmoil. Trade has been the driving force of the European Economic Community (EEC) or European Council (EC) or EU from the start, the first achievement being to establish a customs union among the founding members before evolving into the common market.
